Impact of US national security strategy on Mideast foreign policy
By Saleh al-Khathlan
Professor of political science & former dean of Faculty of Law &
Political Science, King Saud University
The Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy reveals a blatant contradiction in tone when it comes to the Middle East. On the one hand, Washington speaks as if it intends to pull back from the region, insisting that the Middle East no longer enjoys the same priority in US foreign policy that it once did for decades and implying that “the days when the Middle East dominated US foreign policy… are over.”
A closer reading of the very same paragraph, however, points to a clear US commitment to its traditional, fundamental interests in the region. The strategy explicitly underscores continued US commitment to preventing Persian Gulf energy resources from falling into the hands of a direct rival; ensuring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea; stopping the emergence of terrorist hubs capable of targeting US interests or territory—an imperative reinforced after the 11 September attacks; and, finally, safeguarding Israel’s security, which remains a central pillar of Washington’s regional posture.
These priorities, in effect, represent the foundations of US policy in the Middle East since the end of World War II. Despite variations in administrations, agendas, and global conditions, they have undergone no fundamental shift.
The new strategy, therefore, reflects a change not in overarching objectives but in the tools and methods chosen to pursue them. The current administration aims to reduce direct military entanglement and shed some of the burdens traditionally shouldered by the United States, yet it shows no willingness to abandon the enduring interests that have shaped Washington’s approach to the region for decades.
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